6 Times The Onion Had People Completely Fooled

The site Literally Unbelievable showcases normal people on Facebook who have been duped by satirical articles from The Onion. But every now and then those misunderstandings have real world consequences.

Last year The Onion ran this article, in which the very real Californian Parenting Institute was "quoted" about a "study" they did that found that no matter your parenting style, it produces unhappy adults. The article quoted lead researcher Daniel Porter as saying:

“Despite great variance in parenting styles across populations, the end product is always the same: a profoundly flawed and joyless human being."

As the article was passed around the internet and lost its attribution, parents who read it became concerned. The real-life organization was inundated with calls and emails, and even some people who worked there thought the satirical blurb was real, asking the executives when the study had been conducted. The Institute was finally forced to send out a press release stating the obvious: good parenting can lead to great things for kids and adults.

2. “Congress Threatens To Leave D.C. Unless New Capitol Is Built”

In 2002, the Beijing Evening News mistakenly reran this Onion article as fact. Thanks to the gaffe, their circulation of 1.25 million people thought that, like an unhappy sports team, Congress was threatening to leave the District of Columbia unless a new, improved Capitol building was built.

The Onion's article included the mocked-up blueprint for the proposed new building and fake quotes from then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert like, “The hard reality is, [the Capitol building is] no longer suitable for a world-class legislative branch. The sight lines are bad, there aren't enough concession stands or bathrooms, and the parking is miserable.”

When informed that the article was a spoof, the editor of the newspaper was surprised, telling Reuters that the reporter who covered the story was “pretty reliable.” The editor also said he would have to check to make sure the story was false, but if it was he was “sure there would be some form of correction.”

3. “Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children”

Back in 2000, people weren't as familiar with The Onion. This led to mass confusion over an article that some insist is accurate to this day. The "Harry Potter is Satanic" fear, if not started by The Onion, was hugely fanned by it. The original article, with the paper’s classic blend of completely over the top satire, talked about how the books were introducing kids to Satan.

The article claimed to quote children who had been introduced to magic through the books:

“Harry Potter books showed me that magic is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is nothing but boring lies.”

“Hermione is my favorite, because she's smart and has a kitty," said 6-year-old Jessica Lehman of Easley, SC. "Jesus died because He was weak and stupid.”

It also quoted “High Priest Egan of the First Church of Satan in Salem, MA”:

“Harry is an absolute godsend to our cause. An organization like ours thrives on new blood—no pun intended—and we've had more applicants than we can handle lately. And, of course, practically all of them are virgins, which is gravy.”

These fake quotes were themselves quoted for YEARS in chain emails and on sites like WorldNetDaily as proof that 20 million children were worshiping the devil thanks to indoctrination by some entertaining young adult literature. The claim became so widespread that finally J.K. Rowling herself was forced to weigh in on how absurd it was.

In 2009, two separate Bangladesh newspapers reprinted this story about the moon landings being faked. The Daily Manab Zami, the largest circulated tabloid in the country, and New Nation were both forced to apologize after they ran an article about Neil Armstrong holding a press conference after he realized the moon landings he participated in never actually happened.

Armstrong is quoted as crediting conspiracy theorists for his epiphany:

“It took only a few hastily written paragraphs published by this passionate denier of mankind's so-called 'greatest technological achievement' for me to realize I had been living a lie.”

According to BBC News, the editors of both papers admitted they had never heard of The Onion before and issued a retraction. One editor said, “The truth is that Neil Armstrong never gave such an interview. It was made up. We are sorry for publishing the report without checking the information."

5. “Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex”

Possibly the greatest article confusion was over Planned Parenthood's alleged $8 billion "Abortionplex.” The article included such gems as a banner reading “No Life is Sacred” and quotes from PP’s president:

“The Abortionplex's high-tech machinery is capable of terminating one pregnancy every three seconds…That's almost a million abortions every month. We're so thrilled!”

The article went viral, in part because of how many people thought it was real. So if you read the article in May of 2011 during the debate over the funding of Planned Parenthood, and you weren't familiar with The Onion, it might be a tiny bit understandable if you got confused.

But sadly, even after the article became famous for being fake, people are still getting duped. In February of 2012, a Congressman (or one of his staffers) posted it on his official Facebook page. John Fleming, a Republican Congressman from Louisiana, linked the article on his wall with the comment “More on Planned Parenthood, abortion by the wholesale.” News outlets covered the gaffe and the post has since been removed.

6. "Congress Takes Group of Schoolchildren Hostage"

This last example isn't quite like the others. In September of 2011, a pair of tweets from The Onion caused a minor panic in Washington. Without linking to the satirical article it was referencing, The Onion tweeted, “BREAKING: Witnesses reporting screams and gunfire heard inside Capitol building.” A second tweet sometime later that said “BREAKING: Capitol building being evacuated. 12 children held hostage by group of armed congressmen #CongressHostage” also failed to link to the article. Finally, a third tweet gave the game away, linking to a short blurb about Congressmen taking children hostage in the Capitol and threatening to shoot one per hour until they received $12 trillion in cash.

The Onion’s tweets resulted in an investigation by Capitol police regarding the legality of posting such comments on Twitter. They also released a statement assuring the public it was not true and that “conditions at the U.S. Capitol are currently normal.”